169 innovations

Car-top cargo box doubles as a boat

Given that people often mistake streamlined car-top boxes as whitewater kayaks, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that someone has gone and done the obvious – made a roof box that converts into a boat. Instead of serving as a kayak, however, the Boatbox can be rowed like a dinghy, or even fitted with a small motor or a sail.

The UK-made Boatbox (sold in Australia as the BoatPack) is made mainly from UV-stable acrylic-capped ABS plastic, and consists of two basic parts. There’s a base, that stays attached to the car’s roof rack, and a detachable lid, which doubles as a boat. This does mean that whenever you want to use the Boatbox as a boat, you have to find another home for everything that’s being transported within it.